When you hear Megan complaining about
being really busy, you'll also hear her tell you it's
her own fault. She's got two jobs -- her "day job"
is maintaining the scientific integrity of NASA's
archive and making it available to the public. Her
other job is studying galaxy clusters, looking into
the geometry and structure of space for clues to the
beginning of the universe.

CDs
of astronomical data

Megan
feels lucky that she gets to decide the focus of her
own research. People she meets are always interested
in the universe and how it came to be. "I think they
just have some sort of primal connection to it," she
says.

As a female in a male-dominated field, Megan notices
that there's a lot more opportunities for women in
astronomy now than there were 50 years ago. Still,
she is aware of subtle messages that keep bright women
doubting themselves. "The people who are in this business
are very smart and very competitive," she says. "Sometimes
women tell themselves that they shouldn't go on."